Understanding The Cloud: Private, Public or Hybrid?

Cloud computing technology is quickly emerging as one of the top-growing sectors in the technology industry. Estimations are that it’s growing to $100 Billion worth of annual spending and only in the public cloud space. So why are some still hesitant about this powerful tech?

Cloud technology is cost-effective and, more importantly, profitable. While there’s no such thing as perfect universal standards in the developing cloud arena, there are common trends that companies can take advantage of for maximal success in implementing public cloud infrastructure.

To start, let’s explore different cloud platform solutions. The benefits, risks, and costs vary by architecture. Public and private combined are the most widely used architectures, with infrastructure being a close third. To help you understand the difference between a private and public cloud, we’ll first explore commonly used abbreviations for the most popular cloud computing offerings. SaaS (software as a service), PaaS (platform as a service), and IaaS (infrastructure as a service). These encompassing platforms provide an efficient way to run your business on demand when you need it at any scale.

Public Cloud
Let’s start with public cloud providers. Public cloud providers provide their services via a remote internet connection and charge on a pay-per-use pricing model. The public cloud is best suited for extensive software development or collaboration projects and provides high reliability and uptime. Examples of typical public cloud providers are Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. Choosing a public cloud can bring one of the best quantum ROIs because it can save you money due to the ability of the platform to scale at near-infinite levels (limited only by your internet speed). However, margins shift over time if your company grows, and the public cloud may need to be more cost-effective.

Private Cloud
What are the benefits, costs, and disadvantages of private cloud architecture? Private clouds can be hosted onsite at your company’s data center or by a third-party provider. Private clouds are great for organizations needing more control over their environment. When a third-party provider handles the IaaS or PaaS, there are still savings in cost and scalability as compared to a strictly on-premise architecture when using a private cloud platform.

Hybrid Cloud
So is hybrid cloud the best option? A hybrid cloud was created because of two primary business necessities: an increased need for flexibility (bursting during seasonal spikes, for example) and to mitigate the rising cost of the public cloud. The public cloud offers many cost savings over on-premises technology assets, but as adoption has increased, so has the price. Organizations can have the “best of both worlds” with a hybrid model while controlling costs. This way, companies can manage their private cloud and enjoy its inherent security benefits. At the same time, they can instantly scale via the public cloud to handle spikes in traffic or interactions. The hybrid model also has a stable backbone which offers stability despite occasional outages from public clouds.

The cloud is not a trend in the future; it’s happening now. It’s about more than deciding if going to a cloud provider will benefit your company – it’s about whether you’re leaving too much money on the table by not using one. To make sure your move to the cloud is successful, partner up with VIcom. We can navigate the process and find the right Cloud solution for you!

If your organization is looking to streamline your communication tools and shift to the cloud, now is the perfect time to schedule your free assessment with VIcom. Please fill out the form below and we’ll be in contact with you as soon as possible!